Charlevoix County gets tons in donations -- raw gravel

St. Marys Cement Plant in Charlevoix will donate 40,000 tons of its material to Charlevoix County, but the gift doesn't come without a cost.

BOYNE CITY -- A local gravel pit will donate 40,000 tons of its material to Charlevoix County, but the gift doesn't come without a cost.

St. Marys Cement Plant in Charlevoix is unable to use the pit run gravel in its cement-making, but the stuff is ideal for road and highway shoulders, road commission officials said. The trouble is, the material must yet be crushed and that work will cost $102,400.

"It will still be cheaper than buying it," said Ron Reinhardt, county commissioner.

Expected savings to the county is about $60,000, officials said.

Dirk Cox, St. Marys Cement plant operations manager, could not be reached for comment.

The Charlevoix County Road Commission on Monday discussed the plant's donation and how best to pay for the work required by it. One bright spot is the successful crushing bid from Charlevoix's Rieth-Riley came in more than $57,000 less than expected.

Road officials will on Friday ask the county's board of commissioners to contribute $50,000 to help pay for the gravel crushing. The road commission's portion is expected to come from the preventive maintenance fund.

"We'll crunch some numbers and see how we'll pay for it," said Pat Harmon, road commission manager.

The gift comes just as the county's existing stockpile of similar material dwindles from its last-known 2,000-ton level. The 40,000 tons of new gravel likely will last three or four years, Harmon said.

"It's a great deal for Charlevoix County. Period," said Rich Gillespie, county commissioner.

Road commissioners received three bids for the crushing work, including one for $166,000 from MDC Contracting in Charlevoix and the last for $220,000 from Team Elmer's in Gaylord.

The donated gravel will be crushed and stored at the St. Marys site, where road commission workers will be permitted access to it.

The road commission also on Monday awarded two Afton stone placement contracts to Petoskey-based Poquette Leasing Co., the first for Jenkins Road and the other for Studer Road, both in Hudson Township. Each project is nearly a half-mile and the total for both sites comes to $42,976.